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E3: Super Mario Odyssey release date and gameplay revealed.

Nintendo has been keeping quiet about Super Mario Odyssey since its initial reveal back at the Switch unveiling in October, 2016. We now know that it will be releasing on the Switch on October 27th, 2017. Now that we’ve seen a good chunk of gameplay come out of E3, it’s clear who the new star of the show is: Mario’s hat.

Serving as both a character and a tool for new gameplay mechanics, Mario’s hat, who goes by the name of Cappy, brings with it the most change and innovation we’ve seen in Mario game since Super Mario 64.

Mario can throw, spin and bounce Cappy for a variety of new attacks and mobility options but this barely scratches the surface of the hat’s true power. Cappy can be thrown into NPCs and objects to possess and give the player control of them. This gives Mario a whole other level of depth that we’ve never seen before. It looks like Mario can takeover anything you can think of from classic enemies like a Goomba and Koopa Troopa to cars, people, or a goddamned dinosaur.

Odyssey also has a co-op mode where the second player takes up the role of Cappy, allowing it to move independently of Mario. It’s not much in terms of a full fledged co-op mode but at least it’s more interactive than Mario Galaxy’s co-op mode.

Opinion: Hats off to Nintendo for this game. It’s the most interesting Mario game we’ve seen in years in a series that is usually just content with releasing more of the same. I’m not one of the insane people that hated Super Mario 3D World but I did feel like the series needed a breathe of life after it.

As usual with Nintendo’s first party titles, the visuals in this game are absolutely stunning from what we’ve seen. The art of both the world and the characters just has so much life and character in it. I absolutely love those cute little skeleton mariachi guys. Oh and that theme song is just so perfect.